


The True Anti-Virus

by Fernlom



Series: Chronicles of Tenaria [1]
Category: Chronicles of Tenaria
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-22 17:20:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 12,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16602284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fernlom/pseuds/Fernlom
Summary: The start of a new story, something new.





	1. The Heist

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!“ Aaron ducks to avoid the boulder flying towards his head "You’re throwing rocks at me now?!”

"Yes! Get off my land!“ Curly picked up another boulder and threw it at Aaron, nearly missing his head. 

"Come on man!” Aaron rushes up the field and ducks behind Curly’s cabin “I need your help you big lummox!” Aaron yells out, “Why do you want to kill me?”

Curly sighs, boulder still in hand “I have a job, responsibility, I’m not your hired muscle anymore.”

"You were never just hired muscle. We got your help for your heart. You almost never actually used your muscles when we hired you" Aaron slowly walks out from behind the cabin.

Curly sighs, dropping the heavy stone behind him. “What’s the job?" 

Aaron smiles "well, me, you, Tommie, and Ishmael are going to steal something”

Curly sighs deeply “what are we stealing?”

Aaron smiles wider “The left glove of Paranon. Tommie has the right glove already, we are going to take the other one. The people who have it now have no idea what it is, all they know is it’s powerful” 

Curly groans “who are they?" 

"Ah, some goons and their boss. Don something ”

"Don Lomas" Curly raises an eyebrow 

"Yah, that’s the one"

"No.“ Curly turns around and picks the stone back up

"Hey! Hey! Wait a minute! Why not?” Aaron stumbles backwards

"Don is who I work for. I won’t let you steal from him, or help you!“ Curly steps forward. 

"You what?? You work for a mobster! Are you kidding me!” Aaron stands up straight “How? How did you end up working for a mobster?! Blackmail? What does he have on you?”

"Of all people, you think I was blackmailed?“

"Hey! It’s a serious question!" 

"No, I was not blackmailed. It’s a long story, but he’s earned my respect. I work for him as an enforcer. And body guard to rival gang leader Brigitta Vigarin. ”

"Wait, body guard for rival leader? How’s that working?“ 

"They are lovers." 

Aaron simply replies "huh” He stands, arms crossed “you uh…you having sex with her too?" 

Curly steps forward, big stone above Aaron’s head.

"Hey hey! Alright I’ll shut up” Aaron laughs, stepping back “I’ll just go, find someone else to help”

"Good" Curly drops the stone next to him “good luck.”

"I’ll see if Vet doesn’t mind lending Uncle Sam for the night. He’d be good” Aaron comments as he walks away. “You have a nice night Curly.” 

“You too” Though Aaron had left, Curly should not forget what he had said, what he had planned.

"I need to warn Don. He is my boss, he trusts me" Curly reasoned. He made his way back inside the cabin and dialed Don’s phone number and waited while it rang. 

"Hello Curly, what do you need?“ Don answered. 

"Hey Don, I have some bad news. Aaron plans on breaking in to your compound tonight, stealing the Paranon glove.”

"The glove? Well then, do you mind coming in tonight?“ 

"No, Aaron may be my friend, but I can’t let him just steal the glove. I’ll be there”

"Good to hear. I’ll meet you there" 

"Yes sir" 

CLICK, Don hangs up the phone, leaving Curly standing alone in his cabin. He sighed and picked up his axe, exiting his home.

…. 

Aaron, Tommie, and Ishmael stood at the edge of the cliff overlooking Don’s compound. The compound was large, heavily defended, with guards constantly patrolling. 

“Aaron, we may have a problem ” Ishmael titled his head slightly.

"What is it?“ Aaron asked.

Ishmael pointed to the center of the compound, were a large garden lay. In the garden stood Curly, looking directly at them. 

"Dad, what are we going to do? We don’t have Sam to help us. Should we still try and get the glove?” Tommie sighs deeply. 

Aaron scratches his scalp “I think we should still try. I can take Curly.”

"No you can’t dad"

"Shush Tommie, yes I can"

"Aaron, I’ve seen you fight Curly, he kicks your ass"

"Shut up Ishmael, no he doesn’t.“ 

Ishmael and Tommie grin as Aaron rolls his eyes and jumps off the cliff, into the compound. He lands between two guards, blades drawn, quickly slicing their throats, killing them instantly. 

Tommie lands beside him, and Ishmael beside her. 

"Ok” Aaron stands straight “You two go for the glove, I’ll take care of Curly”

"Are you sure you shouldn’t get the glove and we take care of him?“ Ishmael asks.

"Yah, I can handle him. Do you have your glove Tommie?" 

Tommie reaches into her jacket and pulls out a small black glove, as she puts it on it becomes a large golden fist. "Got it daddy" 

"That’s my girl. Go kick some ass sweetie" 

Tommie grins and rushes off with Ishmael, along the outer rim of the compound. Aaron takes a deep breath and makes his way to the center, to meet his doom.

As he entered the garden, Curly called out "I saw you enter the compound. I know Tommie and Ishmael are heading for the glove. Thought I’d warn you, Don is waiting there with it.”

"Tommie and Ishmael can handle them. And I for sure can handle you big guy"

"You know you can’t. You may be right about Don, but we both know you can’t beat me alone"

"Oh shut up you damn lumberjack, just fight me already"

"Eager to get beat up?“

"Eager to get this over with already”

Curly nods “fair enough, as am I”

Aaron rushes forward and leaps into the air, claws ready. Curly steps to the side, as Aaron lands beside him, and punched him square in the face, sending Aaron flying across the garden.

Curly set down his axe and calmly walked over to Aaron as he struggled to his feet. Curly picked him up from the back of his neck, leaving Aaron completely paralyzed. 

"Oh you asshole!“ Aaron fought, unable to move. 

Curly rolled his eyes, carrying him to the edge of the compound "See you next weekend at Hood’s birthday party Aaron.”

"Yah yah, screw you, You better bring those sweet wings you make" 

"I will"

Curly pulled back and threw Aaron over the walls as hard as he could, sending Aaron miles away. 

Curly sighs, “alright, now where are the other two?” He groans, walking back into the garden.

He was met at the garden by a bruised and bleeding Don. He was leaning against a tree, cigar in his mouth.

"They got the glove Curly" 

"Are you okay Don?“ 

"Yah, they only beat me enough to get the glove, they know I still do good in this world. They need me alive." 

"Sorry Don, can I get you something?" 

"Yah, take me to a hospital " 

"Sure boss. Sure”


	2. The Spreading Malware

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A threat Emerges

The soft spring breeze blew through Hood’s open window as he sat at his desk. Hood had taken note of every last threat to his world and family that was out in the multiverse.

His hands wrung through his short black hair. He sighed deeply,

“Jonathan Satlin, that is your name right?”

A voice called to him from inside the room. As Hood quickly looked up from his notes, he saw no one in the room. He slowly stood to his feet, the scar over his eye glowing informing him a visitor from another universe was present.

“Alright, I recognize that voice, sorta, but that’s impossible.” Hood walked around his office, the room empty except himself, and his desk.

“Impossible? Me, why Johnny boy.” The wall before him slowly began to grow black squares all over it, quickly the squares turned green and the wall crumbled. On the other side was a figure, looking similar to Justin.

Looking 18 years old, the figure had light brown skin, eyes a mix of lime green, black, and red. His hair was messy, the left half pure white, the right a ragged dirty blue. He was smiling, a cruel malicious smile. His clothes looked ragged, a ruffled black flannel shirt, dirty black jeans, scuffed shoes.

He seemed to be…glitching in and out of existence, occasionally a ripple of static interference rushed through his body.

“Hello Hood, bet you’ve never seen an evil Justin before have you? Call me Mal.”

“Mal huh? And no, you are the first evil Justin I’ve seen. So tell me, if your evil why haven’t I killed you yet?”

“You’ve read the script. You know you never do”

Hood’s eyes widen.

“Yes, I know of the script too Hood, I saw it when I received my…gift….when I was pulled from my world and into the world beyond the pages…I’ve truly seen it all. I have seen the Ultra Timeline, the Rag Timeline, the Snap Timeline, the Corrupt Timeline, the UnderTimeline, I have seen them all”

“So then pretty boy, what is your gift?”

Mal grins, running his hand across the wall. Wherever his hand touched began to pixelate and glitch, it’s colors inverting and eventually falling apart.

“You know…I killed my bother with this gift. Stephan. When I first received this power, we both thought it wouldn’t affect him. Why would it, we can’t die? He did. He felt the pain, it took him a long time to die. His body fight the corruption for a very long time. Yours won’t ”

Mal stepped forward “But don’t worry Hood. Like I said, I read the script, I know it isn’t time to wreak my havoc quite yet. ”

“So what? I’m supposed to just let you go?”

“Let me go? Hood no, I’m letting you live. ”

“Am I meant to be intimidated?”

“Hood. I am still Justin, meaning I can’t be killed. You aren’t Snap. You aren’t powerful enough to kill the normal Justin, let alone me.”

“Alright listen here you little-”

Mal laughs loudly “No you listen here! Re-read your script Hood. You know when I’ll be back. I’ll see you then. And hey, don’t bother trying to warn everyone about me, it won’t matter”

Hood growls lowly, watching Mal turn and leave the office, leaving a trail of corrupted pixels in his path.


	3. The True Anti-Virus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A possible ally?

Aaron hopped from rooftop to rooftop following the trail of corrupted, glitched out pixels as they seemed to spread through the small mountain town of Keypers Cove.

He hopped down from the roof to the center of Town Square, an ornate garden maze with entrances at each of the four main streets of town, Floral, Agreen, Trenton, and Mazli.

The entrance at Mazli was covered in the corrupted pixels, the glitches leading to the center of the maze.

Aaron takes a deep breathe “Ok, the town has been evacuated, Sergeant Ramirez said something he’s never seen before caused these glitches and he chased it into the maze but didn’t want to follow it in. Guess I will. “

Sighing, Aaron entered the maze, following the trail of pixels to the center of the maze. His jaw dropped open looking at the corruption of the maze, the flowers suddenly negatively colored, blocky, some jagged, their shapes distorted.

He stopped and plucked one of the glitch flowers and held it in his hand, the strangely shaped petals shifting in the breeze, it’s colors flowing between black, red, green, to blue and purple.

“Well, that’s cool” He chuckles, tucking the glitch flower behind his ear into his hair. Smirking he continued through the maze.

Turning a corner, Aaron found himself in the center of the maze, a large open rose garden, at its center a large white gazebo. The path of pixels lead to the gazebo, standing inside was a being, with two large butterfly like wings, the left our black with green outlines, the right side blocky, rainbow pixels. He was dressed in a black blazer over a blue button up shirts, the first two buttons open, black jeans with faint in readable text coming up the legs, and black shoes. It’s left arm was completely pixelated, the glitches originated from the center of his chest. The corruption spreading from his chest consisted of black and green pixels. Aaron looked up to see its face, recognizing Stephan immediately. His hair flowing like water, pitch black. His left eye completely back, green binary code floating by, his right eye filled with colorful static interference. His normally light brown skin, dark grey.

“Stephan? What the heck happened to you?” Aaron approached him, one hand reaching out.

The figure tilted his head in confusion.

“Stephan? That is not my name any more. You want to know what happened to me? Hah. Malware happened. “

“Malware? What, are you another computer program? Like Error53, or DOTcom?”

“No, my name is Trojan. I used to be called Stephan, before my brother and I made a horrible mistake.” Trojan walks down from the gazebo, the glitches behind him correcting themselves and disappearing, returning the ground to its proper status.

“We had an idea, to enter the Internet. To use it to travel the world instantly, while gathering information, enter new worlds, etc, etc. Justin wanted to try it first, He stood on the transport pad we always use to teleport us somewhere. It worked, he entered the Internet, but at that moment something entered him. Malicious software, viruses, malware. He became infected, it spread through his body. His mind remained unaffected but he gained what he called his new gift. He could create these glitches, corruptions in real life. HE said, that when he entered the Internet, he was taken out of our world, beyond the paged he called it. He, saw the script he said, he found his purpose. “

Trojan walks back through the maze, following his path, cleaning the glitches as he walked.

“So he tried it on a few things. The equipment, the desks, then me. We thought it wouldn’t do anything on account of our special predicaments. We were wrong. The pain as his corruption spread through my body was unbearable.” Aaron follows behind him, stunned by how fast the world was being corrected.

“I blacked out, I guess he thought I died. I awoke weeks later, the glitch finished spreading. I found these on my chest, and my arm changed. When I left the lab the world was empty, glitches everywhere. The people he corrupted, mindless monsters. I could see what I can only describe as his code, and followed his trail, from universe to universe. He never caused as much destruction as he has to our home. But each world he visits, he infects one or two specific people and take them with him. I think he is trying to rebuild our world.”

“Has he gotten a me yet?” Aaron asks, his tone worried.

“Yah, you, Hood, Issac, Tommie, our mom, Hail, and an Ishmael.”

“Well, since you are here I’m guessing he is too. “

“Yup, he was in this town, I followed his trail. “

“So, what do you do? Besides apparently fix these glitches?”

“I can spread them too, but what I do that he can’t is this,” Trojan held out his corrupted arm to show Aaron it shift into the form of a spiked club. He reaches out to the wall of the maze, the glitched flowers becoming vines and wrapping around his free arm. “I can manipulate and control them, he can’t”

“Are you going to clean up his mess? And that’s it?”

“No, after I find him, I’m taking him back to our world, and we can fix this mess together, like we are meant to”

Aaron nods, following closely behind him.

“So where is he now?”

“Tenaria.”

Aaron’s eyes widen

“Hoods personal dimension??”

“Yup, Hood’s fine, his code is undamaged. I’m not sure who he plans to target here, but he has stayed in Tenaria for a very long time.”

Trojan looks up to the sky, sighing deeply. “I’ve never had a normal life, even before all of this. You know that. “

“Yah Trojan, I know.”

“I won’t have one after this either.”

“Probably not”

Trojan sighs.

“I’m sorry Aaron”

“Sorry for this”

Before Aaron could react, Trojan’s glitched hand punctured through his chest. He gasps, looking down at the glitches spreading through his body.

“I need muscle for this, once I’ve had him killed I’ll set you free”

Aaron’s eye twitches, titling his head in confusion and pain before the light of day faded into black.


	4. The Back-Up Server

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet your heroes...

Hood stood on his front porch, out looking the fog filled woods around his home. When he created Tenaria, he made it foggy, wooded. He chose that, along with the Log cabin home so that it would feel peaceful, isolated. His wife hates living in the pocket dimension, and instead lives in the real world, in the identical cabin, in the woods outside Tartalgia.

He took a deep breath, he could feel something wrong on Earth. He felt another presence enter his world besides Mal. It had been a while since he last heard from Aaron, and it worried him. Aaron was very faithful to keep in contact, updating on any new threats he has seen.

Hood’s scar glowed. He smiled, maybe it was Aaron coming to update him. As he turned around to face the presence behind him, he came face to face with Mal.

“Hello again Hood” Mal’s hand was firmly placed on Hood’s chest, spreading the erroneous glitches through his body. Hood’s body froze, with only a slight tremor as the glitches spread across his chest like a big X, crossing over to his arms and down to his legs.

“I realized something Hood. Unlike my weak brother who has to manipulate you people to do what he wants, I don’t.” Mal chuckled, the corruption spreading up to Hood’s head, covering his mouth. “I just need to make you a monster and unleash you on this world. You see, my brother wishes to rebuild our world. I don’t. I enjoyed watching it burn, just as I will enjoy watching you tear this one apart.

Mal stood back, watching Hood fall to his knees. The corruptions spread throughout his entire body. On his chest and back was a large, black pixelated X, spreading up his arms to his hands, and down to his feet. As he stood, Mal saw the glitch completely cover his mouth, and scarred eye.

The former Universe Guardian growled. Mal smiled. “Come my pet, we have a date with destruction”

….

 

“So you haven’t heard from your dad either” Issac took a seat on the fluffy green couch in the living room of Emma and Aaron.

Tommie sighed, pacing the room back and forth. “No! And now you are saying Hood is missing too? Right after you say you feel two very dangerous new beings entering our world!”

“You should remain calm Tommie. Bring your mind to peace. If, and I do mean if! If there is something wrong, you’ll need a calm mind to be of any use” Ishmael set his hand on her shoulder, his deep purple eyes seen beneath his hair.

Tommie smiled slightly before sighing again. “Sorry, but my mom is worried, just like your’s Issac. What should we do?”

“Maybe we can go see Stephan and Justin? I’m sure they can track them” Issac picked up his glass of iced tea that was set beside him on the couch side table.

“Or we can consult with the Veterinarian. He might know who these two beings are, and as such give us a better preparation for whatever lies ahead” Ishmael motions for Tommie to sit on the couch.

Tommie rolls her eyes and reluctantly sits next to her cousin Issac. “You’re right Ishmael. Sorry not sorry Issac, but he’s just smarter than you.”

“Screw you Tommie. Let’s just go see the immortal space redneck already. “

BANG! CRASH!

Vet burst through the door, confidently walking into the living room. “Did someone say immortal space red-” his sentence was interrupted by his face hitting the flor after tripping on the area rug. Quickly, he stood up and dusted off his white over coat. “I’m okay. “

“We’re you watching us or something Vet?” Issac questioned. “And you are going to put the door back together right? And clean the mess you caused?”

“I’m a time traveler, I always know when people talk about me, and no son, I’ll get Livewire to come and do that.” Vet replied, leaning on his hooked cane.

“So, do you know who these two new people are?” Tommie asked.

“Nope” Vet answered.

“Well, do you know where Aaron and Hood are at least?” Issac asked as well.

“Ñope” Vet replied once more.

“Vet” Ishmael spoke with much irritation, “I mean this as nicely as I possibly can, but what use are you right now?”

Vet’s cocky smile grew. “Well young man-”

“I’m technically older than you”

“Son, you ain’t even close”

“ANYWAY!”

“Right, younglins, I may not know who these new folks are, or where your daddies are, but I know where to find them new folks. “

Issac instantly stood up from his seat, “Can you take us to them?”

“Oh hell no. They are dangerous, one is is Keypers Cove, the other is terrorizing Tartalgia. From what i’ve seen, it looks like both have company with them, doing most of the destruction. I can’t tell who they are, but I see how strong they are. Be careful kids, don’t go off fighting alone.”

“Ok, well, it would be preferred that we get one more fighter, to make this an even four. Two magicians, two brawlers. “ Issac turned and looked at Ishmael, “Any ideas?”

Ishmael took a deep breath, “hmmm, How about Curly? He is always a force to be respected. “

Tommie nods. “If whatever happened to my dad is out there, Curly is one of the best people to call. Thanks for your information Vet”

Vet smiled and nods “Glad to be of help Darlin, I’ll be watching you all, I’ll send SAM, and Giz to help out if needed. “

Issac smirks, “much appreciated Vet”

Vet snickers, taking a bow before leaving the home through the hole he made by bursting through the door.

“Well, let’s go get the big guy” Tommie said.

The two others nod and look to each other.

“Guys…”Tommie looked to Issac and Ishmael, worry in her eyes, “this is serious. It might really be up to us to save the world this time. “

Issac took a deep breath, “you’re right…what are we going to do?”

“What we do best” Ishmael stood between them, placing his hands on their shoulders, “Fight. “


	5. Collice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the title is a Homestuck Reference

Schism guided the tour of five young girls. The first three dressed in matching black suits, with name tags, the first long blonde hair her tag marked Lyn, the second, lightly darker brown hair, tag marked BBeth, and the third, her hair red with streaks of blonde mixed in, had her tag marked Madd. Behind the three sharply dressed ladies, were two who could only be described as…unique.

The first had long curly hair, with brown roots, fading into blonde as it goes. She was dressed in an all white suit, with green, pink and yellow glow rings on her arms, legs and head. She wore a pair of neon white sunglasses, the lenses a deep blue. Her tag was marked Capri.

Behind her stood the last girl, brown hair under a rainbow propeller hat, dressed in a multi colored neon suit, her name tag simply said Fresh.

“Welcome to Tartalgia, one of the most important towns of this world, home to the Tartalgia family, as well as Curly Satlin, Hood, as well as the main entry point to this world from all others in the multiverse. We are of course honored to be visited by the Counsel of the Creators and you will be given a deluxe tour of this world by me personally. Normally this task is done by either Hood or Aaron, but they are currently busy.” Schism walked forward, guiding them through town. As they approach the town hall, Schism suddenly stops walking. “Hold on ladies”

The air was deathly still in town, a stark contrast to the usual buzz of commerce and socializing. Suddenly, the hall burst outward in a shower of pixles, flying upward from the explosion was Curly, and a corrupted Aaron, his claws pixelated, a black X of glitches covering his chest.

“Ladies I’m going to have to cut this tour short. It seems i just found your guide.” Schism stood between the ladies and the explosion.

Trojan roared from the center of the blast before dashing forward towards Schism. Schism stood ready to fight. A glowing purple arrow intercepted Trojan, stopping him in his tracks to remove it.

“Schism! Get them out of here!” Ishmael drew his bow, shooting another arrow at Trojan.

Schism turned and faced the guests, who all seemed to be interestingly Trojan being impaled repeatedly with the arrows. “Alright ladies, to your right is Ishmael, a mystic warrior from before history, to your left is…i don’t even know….”

CRASH! Curly and Aaron land behind the tour group. Curly quickly rises to his feet, grabbing Aaron by his throat and lifting him into the air. The glitch hisses loudly, trying to claw his way free.

“And who are these two?” Capri asked, straightening her glasses.

“Well” Schism replies, visibly cringing watching Curly slam Aaron into a nearby wall five times. “The big lumberjack with the large white and black spotted afro is Curly Satlin, and the person he is rather brutally slamming into a wall is Aaron Nitishino. I think. Though right now I am not sure that is still Aaron. Anyway, lets go now”

Schism turned and faced the group, and with a raise of his arms, sent them all back to their own worlds.

Curly grabbed Aaron by his legs and flung him over the row of buildings behind him. Trojan growled, catching the next arrow in his hand.

“I think I have had just about enough of this. I have been through too much bullshit to be repeatedly shot with magic fire arrows!”

Ishmael fired another arrow, this one landing right in Trojan’s chest.

Trojan sighed and turned to face Curly, right as his fist made contact with his face.

Ishmael let out a deep sigh, letting down his guard enough to start panting.

 

“Thanks Curly. Where did you throw Aaron?”

Curly pointed over the buildings, Ishmael nodded and straightened his back.

“Alright, if we can get to him, you think you can control him long enough for us to take him to Vet or someone to fix him?” Ishmael asked, leaning on his spear.

Curly smirked, “is that a serious question?”

Ishmael smirked in return. “Good point.”

“You okay to get going?” Curly asked.

“Yah, I am okay, just…alot to take in…”

Curly nods, picking Ishmael up and carrying him down the street. They cross over and begin walking towards the Glitched out Aaron, as he slowly rose to his feet.

“Wait here” Curly set Ishmael down and approached Aaron. Aaron hissed and lunged forward, slamming into Curly’s chest. Curly stood unfazed, but Aaron stumbled backwards before falling.

Curly rolls his eyes and picks him up, “Lets go.”

Ishmael chuckled, following.

…

“Weren’t we supposed to be greeted by a guide?” Gkatte asked, her red and black hair flowing in the wind.

“I think so,” Colors replied, her labcoat blowing in the wind as well.

“I’m sure they’ll be here any minute. There’s no way they forgot about us.” Rose reasoned, floating next to them, her cloud form shifting with the wind.

“This is what i expected from this world honestly” Sharnee sighed, annoyed with the wind in her hair.

“Sorry for my delay!” Vet ran down the street towards the four, rather intimidating figures. He laughed as he reached them, leaning on his hooked cane. “Ladies, welcome to Hotel Shroud, aka that big building behind you.”

Colors turned around to face the building, it was tall, impossibly so, each story was made of a different material, certain floors jutting out in random ways.

“What even is this?” Colors asked.

“Its cool thats for sure.” Gkatte replied.

“Hotel Shroud, created and owned by Hood, a temporary home, and vacation spot for all the world’s heroes. They all gather here.” Vet spouted out, as if by script.

“Who’s here now?” Sharnee asked.

“Not many, right now inside is, the OFFkeys, resting from their US Tour, Wechidna, Pedro Gonzalez, Dr. Krins, and Fog Tartalgia. Come on, lets go-”

Vet suddenly stopped, and looked down at the slowly spreading black pixles on his chest.

“Hello Ladies, allow me to introduce myself.” Vet fell to his knees, then to his face. Standing above him, Mal smirked. The corrupted Hood stood next to him, shaking slightly as he breathed.

“My name is Mal, now please step aside, I have some business to attend to inside this Hotel.”

“Are you serious?” Colors asked, “You think we are going to just stand aside and let you go in there and do what you did to this…guy? here?…Gkatte, what was his name again?”

“He never said”

“Shit”

Mal erupted with laughter “Oh please! I know the rules, I can’t harm any of you, and none of you can harm me unless my creator gives you permission. You are guests in this world, outsiders”

The ground began to rumble as words formed on the concrete, “Kick his ass Colors”

“Wait!” Tommie called out, pouncing Hood, pinning him down. Mal turned, leaving him open for Gkatte’s color gun, the green paint splattering across his face hardening into solid stone.

“Good shot Gkatte.” Rose applauded.

“Thanks, I’ve been practicing. “

“Who are you people?” Issac appeared before them, helping Tommie tie up Hood, bbwhile Tommie continued punching and clawing, trying to knock him out.

“We are from the Counsel of the Creators. Invited here to look around and see whats going on. Do…do you need help?” Sharnee asked.

“Uhh…” the symbols on Issac’s arms glowed, as Hood gradually calmed down, eventually passing out. “I think we’re good…oh…oh no…is that Vet Tommie?”

Tommie sighed, getting up and looking before gasping and covering her mouth “Shit!” her eyes widened and she covered her mouth once more “Fuck! I mean SHit! I mean sorry!”

“Yah yah its fine, but i meant with that guy.” Sharnee pointed at Mal, who had been slamming his head against a wall the entire time, trying to free himself from his stone cap.

“Oh sh-….yah, yah we’ll need some help with him. “ Tommie stood next to Colors. “Do you guys know how to fight?”

“I dont.” Rose answered.

“The rest of us do. “ Colors replied. Her stance confident and casual.

“What exactly do you do?” Issac stood in front of them all.

“Me?” Colors asked, “Once he gets free I’ll show you.”

With a roar, Mal freed his head. Turning, eyes pure blue, white text inside. “I’ll kill you all myself.”

Colors smirked “oh please, I am a creator, you wish you were strong enough to fight me”

Mal growled. Issac and Tommie stood between him and the visitors. “You are outnumbered, by quite a bit. You are lucky our number one priority right now is saving Vet or Hood, or I’d let these badasses behind me kick your ass. “ Tommie hissed between words.

“Run away Mal, while we still let you” Issac stepped forward.

Mal burst out laughing “Am I meant to be intimidated? I have destroyed countless worlds by myself! I’ve killed you too more times than I can even remember anymore! Am I meant to be afraid because you have three freaks as backup?”

“Pretty much yah.” Colors remarked.

Mal growled “Well I’m not.”

“And I’m bored” Issac replied, his symbols glowing. He raised his arm, instantly teleporting Mal someplace else.

“Where did you send him Issac?” Tommie asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t really care either. We just need to get these two someplace safe. Uh…thanks you guys, but you should probably leave this world for now.”

“Yah, kinda guessed that” Sharnee sighed.

“So….We’ll just….go” Issac lifted Vet and began slowly backing away.

“You four get home safe okay?” Tommie picked up Hood, slinging him across her shoulder.

Gkatte nods “we will”

Tommie and Issac took two steps back before completely turning around and walking away.


	6. Plans to Make

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A return?

“So let me get this straight.” Justin tapped on the glass enclosure Hood was currently stored in. The former guardian roared and punched at the glass, doing nothing. “You’re saying the guy with Hood, who you think did this to him, looked like me?”

“And the guy that did this to Aaron looked like me?” Stephan looked into Aaron’s glass cage.

“Yup. Don’t know what else to tell you guys, but there are evil versions of you two now.” Issac leaned against the glass prison.

“But that is impossible. We are the bridge to the multiverse, we are a constant in every universe, never changing. How can that be?” Stephan asked, truly confused. He scratched his head and dug into the pocket of his lab coat.

“They were you.” Ishmael softly set his hand on Stephan’s shoulder. “I’m sorry”

“This is very bad then. “ Justin sighed deeply. “Me and Stephan are unkillables, add in dangerous powers like you described then we are all in serious trouble. “

“Ok, first priority is fixing Hood and Aaron. Mom is going to be pissed if Aaron stays like this.” Tommie looked at her former father. Unlike Hood, who seemed to be an uncontrollable monster, Aaron stood still in the center of the room, his gaze firmly facing to the east, like a compass.

“That’s where we have good news. Our tests show what is wrong with them, and you won’t believe it.” Justin smirks, waving around his clipboard of notes.

“What is it?” Issac asked, clearly curious.

“They have been infected with a computer virus.” Stephan answered.

“Stephan!” Justin punched his shoulder “You stole my line!”

Stephan laughed “oh you talk enough anyway”

Tommie rolled her eyes. “Are you two serious? A computer virus? How does that even work?”

“Honestly I wish I knew. What worries me actually is Vet over there. “ Justin pointed at the third glass case, inside Vet lay, unconscious, the glitches spread across his chest. “Where Hood and Aaron changed, Vet just…shut down.”

“Hood is very agitated. Are we sure these glass prisons will hold them?” Ishmael asked, his grip tight on his spear.

“Of course they will, they were made by the Group 100 Project. They can hold Hood even when he still has his mind. The glass is made of a specific nano-tech that dampens all powers. They can’t get out.” Justin replied, scribbling furiously on his notepad.

“So, these three have a computer virus. Well, I know just the person to call then.” Issac stepped away from Aaron’s cage. “DOTcom.”

Stephan gasped “Why didn’t I think of him! AGH!”

“Alright then, since it was your idea, you can go find him Issac” Tommie remarked. Issac smirked, “Fine, but you are coming too. Ishmael can stay here with the boys, in case they need help”

“Sounds good to me” Ishmael stood beside Justin and Stephan.

“While you are out, find the Tartalgia brothers and the Shattered Six, let them know what’s out there and that these two are currently out of commission.”

Tommie nods, “sure, while these two are out, someone needs to protect the world from those two crazies.”

‘Still can’t believe it’s us.” Stephan stared in disbelief. “We are evil.”

“They aren’t you. You are you. They just look like you two.” Issac patted Stephan’s arm. “You are the nicest person I know, a true hero.”

Stephan smiled. “Thanks Issac, now go, we’ll continue working here on getting these two back.”

Issac nods, turning back to face Tommie.

“Ready Cuz?”

“Damn right I am.”

They nod, quickly rushing out of the lab.


	7. Split Plans and Wrong Ideas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Distractions Distractions

Issac and Tommie darted through the city, people running away in terror from the commotion at the mayor’s office. As they reached the hall, they noticed the ground and surrounding buildings covered in the black glitched pixels.

“Ah crap” Issac stopped, looking forward to the corrupted Mayoral office building. Standing in front was a figure with a head of flames.

“Error 53, this is really not the best time for this” Tommie groaned. She stared at the glitch, it’s head a grinning jack-o-lantern bathed in a green pixelated flame, dressed in a purple flannel shirt and old jeans with hands and feet of straw.

“Oh come now my precious little feline friend, I know of the two newcomers of this world, I felt their presence enter. I also know what they have done to your precious fathers. I wish to offer my assistance, for a fee of course.”

“Please, you won’t be of any help to us you disgusting waste of hard drive memory space. “ Issac scoffed at the villains offer. “We’re goI got to go find DOTcom, he is actually a useful computer program come to life.”

“Words are hurtful you little shit. Well they would be if I was pathetic and mortal like you idiots. But alas, I don’t care enough about this world and what happens to it to truly help you. Though I was serious in my offer to assist you both in freeing your pathetic fathers. “

“You describe us as pathetic, and how many times have we defeated you?”

“Truly none, because here I still stand.” Error 53’s sarcastic tone sent shivers down Tommie’s spine.

“Ok, listen you little freak of a computer virus, we have bigger problems in the world right now than you, so we are going to keep going, and someone else can kick your ass and fix this mess you made.” Tommie clenched her fists as she spoke, clearly annoyed.

“This poor city. What has Salsburg ever done to you?” Issac asked, his arms outstretched to the damage done to the nearby tal buildings.

“To me personally? Existed. I don’t care about the things I destroy, I just destroy:

Tommie rolls her eyes. “Call the OFFkeys? Ask them to sort this out?”

“Oh yah, you know Eric loves fighting him”

“Are you two ignoring me now?”

“Yes we are, now shut up while we make a plan!”

“I can just teleport them here, just give them a call first so they expect it.”

“Agreed.”

“Oh my me, can I just kill you both already?”

“You couldn’t even if you tried jackass!”

Error 53 placed his head in his palms.

…

“Virus extraction attempt three” Stephan stood at his control table, goggles on. His hands worked fast flipping switches and turning nobs.

The enclosure that held Hood filled with a purple gas. Hood roared and slashed at the mist until the room had been completely filled. He continued roaring, until the roaring switched to coughing and eventually nothing but the sound of a body hitting the floor.

“Removing gas from room” Justin began working at his control station, quickly pulling dials and pushing buttons as Stephan furiously took notes. Quickly the gas was removed from the room, laying at the center was Hood, face down, the glitches gone from his body.

“First look?” Stephan asked?

“I see no more of those strange marks.” Ishmael replied, looking into the enclosure.

“Awakening Subject: EDGE now”

“We can’t let him know we called him that.”

“I know, he’d like it too much.”

Justin and Stephan laugh to themselves. Stephan flipping a single switch, a loud boom echoing through Hood’s enclosure. He woke up with a jump, quickly standing to his feet.

“Where the hell am I? Where did that evil Justin go? Wait, Ishmael? Is that you?”

“Hello Guardian. You are safe”

“Begging cleansing process on Subjects FURRY and REDNECK” Justin called out, activating the necessary protocols.

“These subject names are horrible bro” Stephan chuckled “I can’t believe I agreed to them.”

“So, you guys gonna let me out or what?” Hood asked, knocking on the glass, “I have bad guys to beat up.”

Ishmael rolled his eyes, opening the enclosure for Hood. Hood yawned and stretched, stepping out of the glass room.

“So, where is my son?”

‘Going out to warn everyone and gather reinforcements.”

“Ah” Hood turns and looks at the other two gas filled enclosures. “So, who else did he get?”

“Well, it turns out it’s not just an evil Justin. The Stephan from his world is here too.”

“What? He said he killed him using his powers.”

“Well, unlike you, Stephan was able to use the glitches for himself. And well, he used them on Aaron. Then, Mal right?”

“Yah, he calls himself Mal”

“Ok, Mal used it on Vet, he kind of just passed out though.”

“Huh, so what does Evil Stephan call himself?”

“Trojan” Stephan answered, flipping the switch to pump out the glass.

“Hey Little Bro, good to see you”

Stephan smiled “Good to see you too big bro”

“Ugh, where am I?” Aaron groans and stretches, his tail fluffed out.

“Hey Big bro, “ Justin smirks “good to see you bright eyed and bushy tailed.”

“Shut up Justin” Aaron laughed, standing up straight. “Where’s that evil Stephan?”

“We don’t know, probably still in Tartalgia honestly. I hope the Tartalgia brothers didn’t try taking him on themselves.The last thing we need is them taken over.” Hood remarks, opening the enclosure for Aaron and Vet.

“Agh, thanks Son” Vet steps out, cracking his knuckles. “I better call Sam, have him bring the TAURTOS around for me.”

Aaron steps out. “Can you guys let Issa Tommie know we’re back?”

“I will” Ishmael nods, stepping out of the lab. Vet follows behind.

“Well, this week sure will be interesting”

“Aren’t they always?”

“Oh no, we’ve had boring weeks.”

“Name one!”

“Well, a couple months back, we had an entire week without incident, Error 53 was still piecing himself back together from the deepest pit of the deep web we banished him from, and Fatality went into hibernation.”

“Oh yah, that was a very boring week.”

“My point exactly”

…

“Ok, let me get this straight. “ Kujo leaned against his welcoming desk at Tartalgia Inn, “There is an evil version of Justin and Stephan running loose somewhere in the world, and Hood and Aaron are currently mind less monsters.”

“Yah, pretty much” Issac replied, taking candy from the welcoming bowl. Kujo smacked his hand, “Hey!”

“Candy is for the children of guests only”

“My dad stays here all the time!”

“Are you a child?”

“…” Issac looked away,

Tommie rolled her eyes, “So, we just are going around, warning everyone, so you guys know, mind letting your brothers know?”

“Yah sure, I’d be glad to help.”

“Thanks Kujo.”

Kujo nods, Tommie and Issac turning and walking out. “Good, the Tartalogia Brothers know now, The Shattered Six know, though they are currently helping the Fivefold with their Prince problems. And the OFFKeys are fighting Error53 in Salsburg. “

“Well,” Issac pops a root ear candy in his mouth “Apparently Error53 has Xalarn helping him again so the OFFKeys have their hands filled.”

“Ugh, alright, and DOTcom is taking the TAURTOS to go check on Vet and see if he can help.”

“Should we head back now then?”

“Yah,” Issac snapped his fingers, opening a portal before them back to the lab.

As they stepped through, they saw Hood and Aaron talking to Justin and Stephan.

“Huh? Issac!” Hood rushed over to his son, hugging him tightly. “Good to see you again my boy!”

“You aren’t;t a monster anymore!” Issac laughed, returning the hug.

Tommie pounced Aaron, pinning him on the ground with a tight hug, “Papa!”

Aaron and Tommie purr together loudly, hugging.

“Wait, Ishmael went out to find you guys, did he find you?” Stephan asked, worried.

“Huh?” Issac looked up, “No, we never saw him”

“When did he go out?”

“I’d say, a few minutes before you guys showed up.” Justin answered.

“Then i’m sure he’s fine.” Issac replied.

“I don’t know, I Hope so.”

…

Ishmael walked through the streets of Tartalgia. People happily walked along the path. He smiled enjoying the fresh air.

“Ishmael?” Kujo walked up to him. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for Issac and Tommie, Hood and Aaron are fine now.”

“They just left, back to the lab with Justin and Stephan”

“Hmm, good. So you know of the threat?”

“Yah, evil Justin and Stephan.”

“Mal and Trojan”

“Whatever”

 

Ishmael chuckled.

“Good, Be careful then”

Kujo nods “of course.”

Ishmael nods in return, turning around and walking away, his grip firmly on his spear, though everything felt calm, he knew to never let his guard down.


	8. Babysitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OH boy, some violence, sorry.

“Come on Tress, I bet he’s close now!” Denim rushed through the woods outside Salsburg, the last known location of Malware.

“Denim come on, you know we shouldn’t be out here alone! We should have taken Ted with us, he’s really big and scary” Tress replied to his little older brother, fighting to keep his scarf from getting caught in the bushes.

“Yah yah, but he was still asleep and I didn’t feel like waking him, did you?”

“Yes!”

“Well to late now”

“I’ll say” A corrupted, glitched voice echoes through the woods. Denim and Tress stop dead in their tracks, the flowers on Denim’s hoodie pointing downward in fear and worry.

“My my my, if it isn’t Hood’s two lost little sons. You two are far far away from your precious Guardian” Mal steps out of the shadows before them, the static rapidly coursing through his body, the ground around him black and green blocks.

“You are going to change him back”

“Am I now? Heh, you little idiot, that’s not how my gift works. Hood is so much better now, a senseless monster. I can’t even count how many Hood’s I made into the same glitched monster, not a one returned to normal. “ Mal grinned, proud of his despicable accomplishment.

Tress stepped forward, scythe in hand. “You will change him back”

“Hmm, how about, I don’t do that, and instead do this. “

The ground around Denim’s feet bursts upward, creating a pixelated cage.

Denim yells, frantically trying to escape. Tress rushed forward, meeting his own pixel cage.

“Now that I have you boys where I want you.” Mal walks forward to his caged prey. “I know of your powers, and how strong you both can be”

He reaches forward, placing a hand on each of their chests. Slowly the glitches spread across their chests, but just as they spread, the pixels fall off.

“What?” Mal steps back, looking down at his hands. “It doesn’t work on you two? Oh, I know why. You two aren’t apart of my multiverse. You are guest characters, third party guests. I can’t infect you. But guess what boys?”

“W-what?” Tress’s voice trembled with fear.

“You two are in my script, you are indeed part of my story, which means I get to hurt you both, really, really bad. “

Tress began to squirm in his tight trap, Mal grinned cruelly, making the pixels constrict around his arms, shattering the bones within. Tress yelled out in pain, Denim’s eyes turned red, “Tress!”

“Oh I have not forgotten you either Denim” Mal chuckled, Denim’s cage constricting tighter around his chest, cracking his ribs. “One more thing for you little guy. “ Mal pulled a branch from the tree, changing it into a jagged pixel spear. With one swift movement he jammed the jagged tool deep into the young boys chest.

Denim’s eyes changed to orange, his mouth wide open without a sound coming out.

“I was never a very violent person” Mal remarked, then without warning punching Denim across the face. “But honestly” The cage around Tress constricted, snapping his left femur. “I’m really excited to do it now” Mal punched Denim once more, one of Denim’s teeth fly out.

Tress pants heavily, “P-please…let us help you”

“”Help me?” Mal looks Tress in the eyes. “My poor little boy, I don’t want help. I love how I am” Mal’s grin widened, the cages around Tress and Denim suddenly falling, dropping the two to the floor with a hard thud.

“Now you two get home safe now alright?”

With a loud laugh, Mal walked off, leaving them both bleeding in the dirt. Denim coughed out black blood as he slowly stood to his feet. Tress followed, his eyes orange, gripping his right arm.

Denim looked up to his younger brother, and silently began walking home, Tress close behind.


	9. Revenge and Broken Bones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dad is pissed.

Ishmael grips his spear tightly, the dark wood shaft’s veins glow purple, as the spear head shifts form into a trident.

“How can the woods around such an important town feel so unsafe and Erie? Tartalgia is home to the most powerful family in this world, yet this area feels so dangerous and bad” Ishmael walked further into the woods, following the trail of glitched ground.

“During all my travels, i’ve never seen this kind of reality warping before, not even Error 53 could do something like this, these, Trojan and Mal fellows are not to be taken lightly. “

“No. No we are not” a voice wafts through the trees. Ishmael sighs, continuing to walk forward.

“Will you show your face, or rely on cheap parlor tricks the entire time? If so, I’ll grow bored and go to find some other more worthy threat to fight. “

“Cheap trick? Voice throwing is no cheap trick! It is a skill earned through years of training!”

“You must be Trojan, the corrupted Stephan. Only a Stephan could be that dorky.” Ishmael smirked to himself, stopping at a clearing in the woods. “Come, meet me in this clearing, I wish to see you face to face.”

The forest gets filled with the sound of trees suddenly falling, wood snapping and breaking. Ishmael steps into the clearing. From the other side, Trojan steps out; his pixel arm pushing over another tree, almost effortlessly.

“So, Trojan.” Ishmael begins walking closer “good to see you again, fully recovered it seems from our last meeting. “

Trojan scowls, stepping closer as well “You listen here buddy, I’m here for one thing. To kill Mal. And in order to do that, I need an army. One that will listen to me without question, one that I can send in horde after horde, until he is wiped out. “

Ishmael spins his trident in his hand “That’s not how this world works. I doubt that’s how your world worked either. “

“Mal destroyed my world! It’s nothing but glitched, corrupted monsters now! My brother is dead! My mom is dead! I have nothing! Mal will pay for that! “ Trojan exclaims. The ground around him turning neon green and pink.

“You can’t stop me Ishmael. And even if you wanted to try, you need to find me first.”

The ground underneath Trojan suddenly opens up, swallowing him up, before closing back, the corruption gradually disappearing with him.

Ishmael sighs. “Crap baskets.”

…

Hood stood above Denim and Tress’s beds, his adopted sons sleeping soundly, their wounds bandaged over.

“Honey?” Liz quietly stepped into the room. “Are you okay?”

“I’m going to kill him Liz.” Hood continued looking at the two boys. “I’m going to find Mal and kill him. You can attack me all you want, but you do not harm my kids.”

“Hey dad?” Ted walked into the room, “I can help Mom take care of them while you and Issac go out. “

“No. Ted, it’s time you came out on a mission with me. I’ve had you stay and protect Tenaria with Ashura for too long. Now, I need some brute force. “ Hood turned and smiled at his son.

Ted smiled “You really mean it dad?”

“Yah I do. Go get your battle clothes on, we’re going to go kill a glitch” Hood smirks.

Ted quickly leaves the room, an eager grin on his face.

Liz looks around the room, uneasy. “Sweetie? I’m not sure about you taking Ted. “

“Why? Ted has faced so much protecting Tenaria. He was on the front line when Xalarn invaded with his flaming skeleton army. He can handle himself.”

“I don’t want another one of my son’s getting hurt by this Mal guy.” Liz looked deep into Hood’s eyes. “Promise me you’ll keep him safe”

“I promise.” Hood answers his wife, gently placing a hand on her cheek.

Liz smiled weakly, still unsure.

“You’ll have Ashura and Issac to keep you safe.” Hood softly places a kiss on her cheek. “Keep an eye on these two while I’m gone.”

Liz rolls her eyes “yah yah, Ashura can help me with them.”

“Gotta love ghost butlers”

Hood smirks. Liz sighs, stepping back. “Go, be a hero for the world. Just come back home to be my hero.”

“I promise.” Hood stands tall, “I never stay down for long”

“I know you don't” Liz replies, her tone implying a bit of disappointment of his, other skills.

“Oh shush, you climax so damn fast anyway”

“Shut up and go kick some ass”

…

Ishmael steps into Keypers Cove town square. The normally festive and active town, completely quiet. He gripped his purple bladed trident tightly.

Suddenly the streets filled with glitch covered townspeople. Ishmael stood ready, trident careful to only knock out the people, blade missing their desired killing targets.

“Really Ishmael, always so careful!” Trojan rushed down the street towards his ancient adversary.

Ishmael swiftly sidestepped a corrupted civilians punch, darting down the road towards Trojan, moving quickly and smoothly through the crowd of confused victims.

Trojan’s glitch arm shifts into a thick club, swinging wildly, knocking away the mob of his army.

Ishmael narrowly dodged underneath his club arm, using his trident to knock Trojan off his feet.

“Ugh!” Trojan landed hard on his back. Ishmael moved quickly, jamming his trident deep into his chest. Trojan roared, using his glitch arm to snap the shaft of the trident in half.

The magical staff released all its powerful energy in a large concussive blast, sending Ishmael and all the glitched army far back.

Ishmael groans, climbing out of the rubble. In the middle of the square, only a crater remained. Trojan had vanished, his spear back in one piece, piercing the ground.

The townspeople groaned, the glitches slowly falling off their bodies.

“Great, he’s still unkillable. “ Ishmael limps over to the crater to retrieve his spear.

“Ishmael?” Dr. Krins calls out, standing at the edge of the crater. “What happened here?”

“Your town” Ishmael pulls his spear from the ground. “Was attacked. I just saved it, but the threat is still out there. Is there anyway you can summon Galve or something to help protect the town?”

“Yah, sure, I’ll see. “ Krins answered. “I’ll talk to Sergeant Ramirez too, see if he can help since the OFFKeyes are in in North Dakota with the Fivefold currently.”

“Good” Ishmael climbs out the crater. “Now, where is the nearest Hotel I can pass out in again?”

“Down the road actually, on Agreen”

“Thanks.”


	10. A Clash of Worlds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A CLIMACTIC clash. Or so I think.

“Brother! Come on out!’ Trojan shouts, standing at the base of the Kaon Cult Ruins. Standing around him was an army of corrupted victims. Amongst the crowd was Pedro Gonzalez, Pastor Smith, Kujo and Fog Tartalgia, and Ursa Majora.

“So you finally found me ey bro?” Malware shouts from the top of the crumbling pyramid. “It’s been how long since we last met?”

“About two years”

Mal laughs sliding down the side of the pyramid to land before Trojan “It is so hard to tell time when you are traveling and destroying the multiverse. So, is this your army?”

Trojan looks back at the force gathered behind him, feeling proud “Yes it is, and yours?”

“Oh, I don’t need an army, I just need four.” Mal smirks, a roar erupting the silence.

“Who did you get?” Trojan asks, stepping closer to Mal.

“Oh no one too big or dangerous, Charger, Camaro, Mustang…Curly” Almost on queue a corrupted Curly bursts through the gathered force, behind him taking on wave after wave of fighters were Mustang, Camaro, and Charger, each standing about eight feet tall, bodies of pure muscle, a black pixel X over there chest and back, covering their black body suits.

“You actually got Curly. Well, I have some to take him down.” Trojan nods, Ursa and Pedro Gonzalez spring to life, zeroing in on Curly. With one punch, Curly knocked Pedro out, but was blindsided by a surprise punch from Ursa.

The ground shook from the impact, splitting itself as the two powerhouses faced off. Curly growled and rushed forward, Ursa standing her ground.

BAM! With an Earth shattering punch, Ursa was down.

“So, about that brother. Looks like your army is no more, and my four monsters are free roaming yet again.”

Trojan growled, all the glitches leaving the bodies of his fallen army and entering his body. With a sweep of his hand, the glitches and corruptions also left Mal’s Warriors.

“Hey!” Mal shoves him “now that’s unfair!”

Trojan replies with a punch to Mal’s jaw, knocking him down. “I don’t care about fair”

Curly groans, stumbling around, he looks up to see Trojan and Malware a few mere feet away.

“Oh great, these freaks.”

Malware and Trojan continued to bicker and squabble with each other, failing to notice Curly walking up to them.

“You blew up the house!”

“That was before the accident! The Justin of this world did it too!”

“Yah but he actually helped rebuild it! You ran to Washington!”

“YOU KNOW I WAS VISITING MRS. KETTERSON!”

“WHO THE HECK IS MRS. KETTERSON?”

Curly stood right behind them both, not saying a word as they continued fighting.

“You can’t blame me for Stacy dumping you!”

“What do you mean I can’t? You literally slept with her! She told me she wanted to break up because you were better at sex!”

“YOU KNOW I HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THE SEXUAL POWERS”

Curly heard enough, swiftly knocking them both out with direct hits to their jaws, their bodies spinning before hitting the ground.

“Ugh, I suppose I should probably call Hood or something…nah.”

Cracking his knuckles, Curly turned around and walked away.

…

“The Kaon Cult Ruins?” Hood asked, eating out of a bowl of microwave instant noodles.

“That’s where my readings show a massive influx of these glitches.” Stephan answered, “wait, is that one of my noodles?”

“Yah, I was getting hungry.”

“Oh man, it’s the last beef isn’t it?”

“No, it’s roast chicken.”

“OH DAMN IT” Justin shouts from his desk.

“What?” Aaron asks.

“The readings are suddenly gone. They aren’t at the ruins anymore” Justin sighs, his face hitting the desk in despair.

“Hey guys?” Tracey walks into the lab, “Just wanted to let you all know dinner will be ready soon, so Hood and Aaron if you are staying it’s burgers and fries tonight, Hail has a nice fry seasoning recipe. “

“Thanks Trace.” Hood smiles “yah, we’ll be staying”

Tracey raises an eyebrow “looks like you got your dinner already though Hood, you know those are for Stephan.”

“I’m hungry, and i’ll still be hungry when your food is ready”

“Uh-huh. Sure, I’ll let Beth and Liz know you two are eating here tonight.”

“Thanks Tracey” Aaron smiles, hugging her tightly.

Tracey rolls her eyes “let me go fluff ball.”

“Oh, but why? I know how much you loooove my hugs” Aaron’s voice simply dripped with sarcasm. His cocky grin quickly faded with Tracey’s elbow suddenly jabbing him in the stomach.

“Good hit” he coughed “Who’s been training you?”

“Wechidna”

“Of course.”

Tracey grinned “fifteen minutes boys, then computers off.”

“Yes mom” Justin and Stephan reply in perfect unison, a trick that always made Tracey uncomfortable.

She shivered “boys, please stop doing that.”

“Sorry mom”

“Yah, sorry ma”

Tracey laughed slightly. “Just come eat okay?”

“We’ll be there soon Trace” Hood answers, finishing his noodles.

She nods and steps out.

“So” Hood turns back to Stephan “where are they now?”

“That’s the thing Hood….we don’t know”


	11. Expositions! And More?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe exposition? I don't even know.

Ishmael was really annoyed by this point. He groaned as quickly knocked out another glitched civilian. Trojan and Mal were nowhere to be seen but still these glitched people kept coming.

“I swear, I’m going to decapitate them both myself at this point.” He sidestepped a quick punch, using his staff to knock the assailant down.

“Ishmael?” Kujo landed next to his friend in his battle suit. “Have you found the source of all these people?”

“Yah, turns out there is a possibility where Justin and Stephan are evil.”

“Really?” Kujo holds out his metal fist, knocking out another fighter. “Those two nerds caused this?”

“Yup, two evil versions of them. Not sure how, I bet we’ll find out soon though. “

Kujo rolled his eyes. “Great, where are they now?”

“I don’t know, last I saw the Stephan one, he calls himself Trojan by the way, was outside Keypers Cove.”

“Ishmael, you are in Washington right now, how long ago did you see Trojan all the way up in Alaska?”

“It’s only been a couple days. I think. I passed out in Argreen Hotel after the fight.”

“So they could be anywhere now”

“Pretty much yes.” Ishmael casually twirls his staff in his hand.

Kujo shrugged. “Okay then, listen, do you need a lift to Tartalgia? Or back to Tenaria?”

“Yah, I could use a lift, but to Hotel Shroud instead”

“Gotcha, let me help”

Kujo hooked his arm around Ishmael and the two flew off.

…

 

“So let me get this straight, you want to help me destroy this world, for fun?” Mal leaned against a tall redwood tree, his virus slowly spreading up its tall side.

Virus smirked, leaning on his cattle spear. His ruffled brown hair flowing gently in the wind. “I’m interested in the virus your body is hosting kid.” His voice rough and scratchy, but somehow very melodic and charming. “So i’m willing to help you so I can study it.”

“I know who you are Virus. Before I agree to anything you need to promise me something.”

“Sore kid. What is it?”

“I need you to keep my brother far away from me, he’s getting in my way”

“Eye’ll see what I can do.”

Mal smirks, “Then deal, i’ll let you study me”

“Let’s go test you out. How’s Yarn City sound?”

Mal grins “let’s go”

…

 

“So on the plus side, all our other normal enemies are being pretty quiet” Aaron gave Hood a reassuring pat on the back. “I mean, Error 53 pretty much gave up with Salsburg, Fatality ran off from the OFFKeys, Xalarn is missing, no other multidimensional threats have arrived. Just these two. “

“Yah, that’s the problem Aaron, these two are Justin and Stephan. Unkillables. “

“Not true. “

Hood looks up at Aaron. “What do you mean?”

“Well..do you mean to tell me that in the massive multitude of the multiverse, they have never been killed?”

“Ok, I’ve seen two times it happened, one by a me, another by a you.”

“See, we have a chance.”

“No we don’t, the me that killed them was only able to do it by killing everyone else in the world, and the you…was Corruption.”

Aaron’s ears hung low upon hearing that name “right, Him. “

“Exactly, I don’t think we can kill them, but maybe banish or make leave ya’know?”

Aaron’s ears raised up again “yes. I’m loving this idea. “

“We’ll need help, but we can do this.”

Aaron smiled wide, his tail wagging happily “let’s go banish some f***ing brats. “

“Wow, I didn’t know you swore”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yah, no idea”


	12. Looking into a Broken Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seeing yourself, but not yourself...can be strange.

Click clack, the sound of Stephan and Justin typing away at their computers filled the silence of their lonely laboratory.

“So, they are out looking for the evil us?” Justin asks, not looking up from his computer.

“Yah, I’m setting up detection systems from the global satellites looking for any more glitches in the world”

“Cool”

“Thanks” Stephan smiles. His smile slowly fades as he watches his screen. “Bro?”

“Yah?”

“It works”

Justin smiles “that’s great! W-what’s wrong?”

“It shows, the glitches are here”

The color quickly rushes out of Justin’s face as the realization hit.

Suddenly the east facing wall crumbled in a pile of green and black pixels. From the rubble stepped in Mal and Trojan.

“So” Justin held in his hand a large laser cannon. “You must be the evil us.”

“Am I really that cocky?” Mal asked.

“Yes” Trojan and Stephan replied in unison.

“Stephan!” Justin complains.

“It’s true” Stephan picks up two smaller laser guns. “You are”

Justin rolls his eyes “what do you two want?”

“Your tech. We want to open a portal home and go back, this world is useless to us” Trojan answers, running his fingers along the desk, the wood warping and changing color.

“And why should we help you?” Justin asks

“Because if you don’t, we’ll kill Tracey, Hood, Aaron, everyone.” Mal answers, his grin wide.

“You really going to threaten us?” Stephan growls

“We know we can’t hurt you, and we definitely don’t want to make you guys into us. So we’ll kill your family” Trojan hops up and sits on the desk, “fair?”

“Get off my desk” Stephan replies.

“Huh, I finally grew a pair huh?” Trojan slides off the desk and stands by Mal.

“Fine, we’ll help you. “ Justin sets his gun down. “Go stand on the scanning pad”

“Yah yah, we remember how this stuff works” Mal grumbles walking over to the scanning pad.

Trojan follows “if you can scan us though”

Stephan steps behind his computer, looking up to them “huh, good point”

Justin types at his computer “I’m seeing you code, it’s corrupted, but I found the origin. I’m putting in the coordinates now”

Mal smirks “awesome”

A portal opens from the teleportation pad. Green and purple swirl around in diamond formations.

Stephan and Justin step out from behind their computers and walk up to the portal.

Mal and Trojan stand behind them. “You did it” Trojan speaks.

“Well, sort of” Mal quickly shoves Justin through the portal. Stephan quickly steps aside from the portal.

“What the heck!” Stephan shouts, gripping the nearby desk.

“You really think that trick would work? We’ve been to more universes than you can count. Our code is unreadable, you can’t find out origin. “ Trojan steps forward.

Stephan’s eyes widen with fear as Trojan grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him through the portal. With a press of a button by Mal, the portal closed.

“So” Trojan walks over to Mal, “where did they try to send us?”

“Jack-O-Verse.”

“Dang, idiots”

Both Mal and Trojan laugh, walking back through the crumbled wall.


	13. To Salsburg or Bust!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the mom!

Tracey’s hands shook as she gripped her cellphone. “Yes they’re gone! Aaron you listen to me carefully, there is a giant hole in my house and both my sons are gone! “ She began to cry, Hail softly held her free hand, “FIND THEM AARON! YOU FIND MY SONS!”

She hung up her phone, putting it back in her pocket, her whole body shaking.

“T-Tracey?” Hail softly took her other hand, “I’ll go help look for them “

“No, sweety, no. I can’t lose you now too…I need you to stay with me.”

Hail smiles slightly, despite being married for so long he still felt so shy around her.

“S-sure, d-do you want to go get some ice c-cream?”

“Only if we get brownies too”

For a short moment, Tracey’s panic lifted, she smiled down at her loving husband, taking both his hands in her own tightly, she leant down and kissed him, his icy lips reassuring and calming her.

…

BAM! Hood’s fist went right through the wall. Issac, Ishmael, and Tommie stood in the room with Hood and Aaron.

Aaron paced the room, his cellphone still in hand. “We need to find those two now. They need to pay.”

“But where do we find them?” Ishmael absent mindedly spun his spear.

“Well” Issac stepped forward, “last I spoke to Justin and Stephan they said they were making a way to track them, so let’s go to their lab first. I’m sure Aunt Tracey will appreciate the company right now as well”

“Issac is right guys” Tommie stepped forward as well, “we need to go to their lab”

Hood sighed deeply, rubbing his fist “your right. Let’s go” With a wave of his hand, Hood opened a portal to the laboratory.

Aaron walked through first “Tracey? You still here?”

“YAH!” Tracey called from the front door “Me and Hail are leaving! Going out for a bit! Be back soon!”

“Alright!” Hood replied, stepping through the portal “we’re going to find your sons! I promise!”

“You better!” Tracey yells back “Or else me, my sisters, and Hail are going to kick your asses!”

“T-Tracey!” Hail complains.

“Oh bunny, I know you can kick their asses easy. You know it too”

“Y-yah, b-but still…t-thank you though”

“Of course my little ice king”

Hail’s cheeks flushed bright red.

“GO ALREADY!” Aaron yelled from the lab.

“ITS MY HOUSE YOU FURRY PIECE OF SHIT”

Aaron laughed, soon Tracey and Hood joined in the laughter.

“We’re leaving now!” Tracey called into the house, closing the door behind Hail and herself.

Hood sighs once more “ok, Issac, check the computer’s, see if they got the tracking systems online. “

“Got it” Issac quickly jumped over the desk and activated the Justin’s computer.

Aaron simply walked to Stephan’s desk and turned on his computer “Stephan got it working, says they are…in Salsburg. “

“Salsburg. Always Salsburg.” Tommie chuckled “I’m surprised people still live there.”

“Me too sweetie” Aaron smiled “but we have a location.”

Suddenly, Hood’s cell phone began to ring. He raised his eyebrow and answered the call “Hey it’s the Universe Guardian””

“Hello Little Brother” Curly answered, the sounds of crumbling buildings and screaming people filed the background “Can you and your friend come to Salsburg, I need your help.”

“Yah big bro, we are on our way now.”

“Excellent, I don’t think I can muscle my way out of this.”

“Huh, that’s a first”

“You are telling me”

Hood chuckled and hung up his phone, in the same motion of putting his phone back, he opened another portal. “Everyone in!”

Ishmael and Tommie step through first, with Issac following after.

Hood and Aaron look at each other. They nod and walk through the portal.

(I could have gone straight to the final battle here, but nah)


	14. Downloading the Anti-Virus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dramatic finish

Curly stared out at the crumbling, flame covered skyscrapers. He sighed deeply, Hood’s portal opening behind him.

“So, what’s all this about guys?” Curly asked, still looking at the ruined city.

“Well, firstly S&C Mechanics are sure going to be busy.” Hood answered. “But the cause for this, it’s Mal and Trojan. “

“Hmm. Okay. They are on top of Hicks Tower.”

“Where is Mr. Hicks?” Aaron asks.

“Probably in his tower”

“Crap” Aaron sighs. “Let’s go save the city”

“Let’s do it” Tommie cracks her knuckles.

They rush forward, Curly up front leading the group. From the edge of the city, they encountered wave after wave of infected civilians. With Curly in the lead they plowed through.

“Don’t kill anyone! They are still humans!” Hood called out to the group, a groan coming in response from Aaron and Ishmael.

Curly scowls, vaulting over cars and wreckage. Soon, they arrived at Hicks Tower. The front door to the lobby open wide.

“Well, here we are” Aaron stepped into the building, none of the infected monsters inside.

“It’s quiet in here. “ Issac looked around.

“I don’t like it” Hood stepped up to the elevator and pressed the up button. “Let’s just head to the top. “

“You trust the elevator?” Curly asked, looking down at him.

“Yah, I do”

Curly shrugged and waits with Hood.

“Alright, I guess we’re waiting now” Aaron stands by Curly.

The other three soon follow, waiting as the elevator descends. With a ding, the door slowly opens.

”This is bad” Hood comments as the door fully opens, inside stood Wechidna, his chest covered in a pixelated black X, his mouth covered in green pixels and his sword completely corrupted.

“Oh this’ll be fun” Aaron took his fighting stance, claws ready. Tommie stood by him, her stance the same.

Wechidna rushed out of the elevator, swinging his sword, Aaron sidestepped the first slice, Tommie using his leg to trip Wechidna. Wechidna rolled and landed back on his feet.

“Take his sword!” Curly called out, standing between Hood and Issac.

Aaron smirks and stands before Wechinda. Wechidna growls, the growl distorted and metallic. He lunges forward, sword in hand. He swung, the blade piercing Aaron’s right shoulder, lodging itself deep into Aaron’s flesh, getting stuck in his metal bones.

Aaron’s eye twitches as Curly swiftly knocks Wechidna out with one punch. He grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it out of his shoulder.

“You okay Aaron?” Hood asks, looking at his bleeding friend. Aaron nods, dropping the sword to the ground.

“Y-yah, let’s just get in the elevator and get up there. If I go feral at least I can attack those two monsters. “

Hood nods, the team all entering the elevator. Once inside, Curly presses the button to the top floor.

…

DING, the elevator doors open to a wrecked penthouse office, standing in the center was Mal and Trojan, in the far corner of the room lay Mr Hicks, unconscious but moving.

“You two little jackasses are going down.” Hood stepped into the room. “You wanna know why?”

Mal smirks, “sure, tell us why”

Hood smirks back, stepping aside and letting Curly walk in, in his hands was Aaron, his eyes black, snarling and hissing.

“Meet Feral 42” Curly remarks, his tone bored. Simply he releases the beastly hero. Aaron quickly rushes forward his claws ready. Trojan rushes forward, using his pixel arm to block Aaron’s swipes.

Tommie and Ishmael quickly join in, teaming together against Mal. Swings and slices barely missing the slick movements of Mal.

Hood stands by Issac “Son, how’s your portal summoning?”

“It’s uh, pretty good. Shoudn’t we be fighting?” Issac asked.

Before them, Aaron and Curly had Trojan cornered, slicing and punching the glitched villain, meanwhile Mal still evaded Ishmael and Tommie.

“Oh we are. Have I ever told you about Cell Block Z?”

“Yah, the dimension prison.”

Hood nods, pointing at Mal and Trojan. Issac let’s out a long “ohh” met with a hearty laugh from Hood.

Issac nods standing with Hood. Hood smirks, his eye scar and the symbols on his clothes glowing. The scrolls unfurl from his wrists, every last symbol glowing. Issac nods in understanding the same symbols appearing all over his body, glowing brightly.

Slowly, a portal formed along the ceiling of the room, swirls of blues and greens forming a large oval.

“Now son” Hood looks up to his child. Ishmael smacked Mal with his staff, knocking him to the floor. Quickly Curly grabs Trojan by the collar of his shirt and threw him onto Mal, knocking him out as well.

Aaron roars out, his eyes still back.

“Focus on Mal and Trojan only, no one else got it? You need to focus on them”

“Ok dad” Issac nods. Slowly, purple energy tendrils reveal themselves from the portal, they began to wrap around Mal and Trojan, slowly lifting them up into the portal.

Aaron hisses and begins to leap up to catch them, quickly being stopped by Curly, grabbing his leg and throwing him back to the ground. With a loud slam, Aaron hit the floor, consciousness quickly fading away.

“Almost done son” Hood looked up to the portal, Trojan’s hand the only thing outside. As soon as the final tip of his finger went through, the portal closed.

“Done” Hood smiles, the scrolls returning to his wrists, the symbols no longer glowing. Issac sighs with relief, his symbols fading away.

Aaron groans, slowly sitting up “everyone okay?”

“Yah, Curly kicked your butt dad” Tommie chuckled. Curly smirks slightly, helping Aaron up.

“So, are they gone forever?”

“That’s the hope” Hood looks around the room, “That’s the hope”

Curly stood by the window, the evidence of the glitched beings gone clearly seen, no pixels in sight. The city still crumbling and burning.

He sighs “gonna be a lot of clean up”

“Again” Ishmael sighs as well “just another day”


End file.
